The Mike Nowak Show Podcasts

Qae-Dah Muhammad is a founder and manager of the South Shore Farmers Market in Chicago. She explains why she was forced to shut the market down, at least temporarily. Barry Patrick from the Chicago Farm Report talks about the recent stories on his blog. It's DiMaio-Palooza as meteorologist Rick DiMaio comes to the Que4 Radio studio to talk weather and climate issues.

Eileen Prendergast, Education Director, previews the opening of the Regenstein Learning Campus at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Director Scott Jones and actor/storyteller Megan Wells discuss their collaboration on the world premiere of Turn Here Sweet Corn at Madison Street Theatre in Oak Park, September 1-4. Mike and Peggy interview Mitch McNeil from Surfrider Chicago about the Pipe Out Paddle Protest at Montrose Beach on September 1 to call attention to the Enbridge 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, then talk to Joseph Chasing Horse, a Sundance Tribal Ceremonial Elder, about the Dakota Access pipeline protest in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

Stephen M. Cutter, Jr. is one of the founders of G-Ride, the first eco-conscious ride share company, which utilizes hybrid and electric vehicles and which will plant a tree for every ride. He announces the launch of G-Ride's Indiegogo campaign to get the company off the ground. Whitney Richardson and Tovah McCord from The Kitchen Community explain how they hope to establish Learning Gardens in 200 Chicago Public Schools. Nick Fuller from Natural Communities Native Plants talks about how to add natives to your garden in the fall to give them a head start in the spring.  

Gary Cuneen is founder and executive director of Seven Generations Ahead, which is sponsoring the 9th Annual Oak Park Micro Brew Review, which helps to raise funds for the sustainable organization. Jordan Parker comes to the Que4 Radio studio to talk about the one year anniversary of the ordinance banning certain types of plastic bags in Chicago, and to examine its shortcomings. Victor Zaderej from Happy Leaf LED explains how he's working to create a better light for indoor plant growing. Josh Nelson is teacher of agriculture at Oregon High School in Oregon, Illinois. He is working to create an off-grid greenhouse that will be a teaching laboratory for students. They have both presented at the the annual Illinois Renewable Energy and Sustainable Lifestyle Fair, which is presented each year by the Illinois Renewable Energy Association.  

Kathleen Thompson, part of The Mike Nowak Show team, explains how potent an allergen mold can be, and how some people who suffer from anxiety might actually be experiencing the effects of sensitivity to mold. Doug Taron, who is curator of biology at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, talks about why the monarch butterfly is an important species, his work restoring and preserving other butterfly populations, and why some folks are afraid of dragonflies.

Dan Kosta is a friend of The Mike Nowak Show who works at Vern Goers Greenhouse in Hinsdale, Illinois. He is also a long time member of the Praire State Bonsai Society, which is holding its annual bonsai show at the Morton Arboretum this week. Billy Burdett, executive director of Chicago's Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA), talks about their various programs and promotes their 2nd Annual Grown in Chicago: Summer Soiree & Showcase, to raise money for their advocacy, outreach and education work. Lisa Hilgenberg drops by the Que4 Radio studios to describe her work at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Regenstein Fruit and Vegetable Garden.

Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott is extension urban horticulturist at Washington State University. Mike and Peggy Malecki talk to her about her latest book, How Plants Work, The science behind the amazing things plants do. The also discuss the growing significance of The Garden Professors blog, which she helped create, and the misguided efforts of WSU to dismiss her for incompetence.

C.L. Fornari is the author of The Cocktail Hour Garden: Creating Landscapes for Relaxation and Entertaining. She talks about how to utilize the many different attributes of plants when designing an outdoor space. Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott is the extesion urban horticulturist at Washington State University. She discusses her book, How Plants Work: The science behind the amazing things plants do as well as her work with The Science Professors blog and the controversy surrounding WSU's attempt to get her fired for incompetence.

Laury Lewis is co-chair of the 48th Annual Sheffield Music Festival and Garden Walk. He stops by to talk to Mike and Peggy about the challenges of incorporating a tour of 95 gardens into what has largely turned into a music festival. Saima Abbasi from Go Green Wilmette talks about how their Alternative Garden Walk highlights sustainable practices in backyards.

Linda Kivirist and her husband John Ivanko run an organic farm and bed and breakfast in Wisconsin called Inn Serendipity. In November of 2011, their cookbook Farmstead Chef was published, which features recipes and stories that help its readers eat lower on the food chain.

Podcast Episode

John Papola is the director of At the Farm, a film documentary about the lives of the animals we raise for food, and also the lives of the farmers who raise them. He and his vegetarian wife Lisa, who is the film's producer, set out on a journey across America and discover that farmers and ranchers face questions about life, death and morality every single day. Kevin Fulton operates a holistically managed organic grazing operation in Nebraska. Chris Petersen has been an independent family farmer his whole life, raising row crops, livestock and local foods. Mike and Peggy Malecki talk to them about the rise of factory farms, and how to preserve small farms and with them the humane treatment of livestock.The film premieres in Chicago on July 13, 2016. You can get tickets here. 

University of Illinois entomologist Dr. May Berenbaum discusses the latest concerning the health of pollinators, including proposed bans on the class of pesticides called neonicotinoids. Jen Walling, executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council, reports on a number of environmental bills making theiri way throught the Illinois General Assembly in the spring session. Rick DiMaio chats with Mike about another cold spring for the Midwest, which follows the warmest global winter on record.

Mike talks to Claire Micklin, who, through a program called Open Gov Hack Night, is part of a team that created an app called My Building Doesn't Recycle. The app is designed to let people in multi-unit buildings in Chicago report if their building doesn't seem to have a recycling program.

Mike talks poinsettia and Christmas tree fact and fiction, courtesy of a couple of websites from Illinois Extension - The Poinsettia Pages and Christmas Trees and More. Megan and Lynn, The Green Divas, promote the new GDGD Radio Network and how to support it. In the second hour, Mike turns the studio over to the WCPT Players and the annual presentation of It's a Wonderful Slice, his 10 minute adaptation of the holiday film classic, It's a Wonderful Life.